I can understand that, although my own philosophy is somewhat different.
It's not about having tons of money. A Leica M allows a shooting experience quite different from a DSLR. While I like shooting my 7D, I really wish it would be a more manual experience, a smaller package and no more plastic. That to me spells 'Leica M', the price comes second. If I can afford one I will not compromise and simply buy one, until that time I will enjoy my 7D.

Leica Rumors has some thoughts about what Leica might have for us at Photokina and, in the context of this thread, they specifically mention an EVIL camera compatible with the R-system lenses.

With the longevity of the M-system it's easy to believe that buying into Leica means a guaranteed future for that expensive Leica glass but, as of now, that's not the case with the R-system. It's just over a year since Leica announced its demise and you'd be hard pushed to find any reference to it at all on the Leica web pages. This Google search produces lots of results but only the pages cached by Google are actually visible. But if you want a quick overview the PDF of the R-system Brochure is still available as is this introduction to the lens system. Erwin Puts has also produced a readable R9 obituary.

Leica Rumors seems pretty confident that Leica will provide an option for R-system lenses and, given that there will never be another R-system body, that would seem to imply a mirrorless design, something apparently conceded by Stefan Daniel here. That short piece ends with the opinion that Leica would have to produce some new glass specifically for any new EVIL camera and that does seem likely given the original lenses were designed with a full-frame DSLR mirror in mind.

But hey, this rumour almost sounds credible. Leica has a considerable resource of used R-system lenses it can tap into, should owners wish to sell, and it could hit the ground running with an EVIL camera compatible with those lenses while at the same time offering those current R-system owners a valid way to "cross-grade". What do you think?

For me Leica M9 means speed, simplicity, fantastic quality, all in a small package.
Alas, that comes at a price.
Leica, in the DSLR, EVIL, P&S incarnations lose those qualities in my opinion, and bring them at the level of the mainstream camera manufacturers, but at a high price too, that is much less justified.

If I'm reading this correctly, Leica R is a SLR system. As such, the lenses are not ideal for an EVIL camera since you still have the unnecessary size to get around the mirror. So that's not to say you can't, but it wouldn't be ideal. My gut feel: unlikely, but they might do something unusual outside current convention.

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To be fair the micro four-thirds cameras maintained compatibility with the four-thirds lens system by means of an adaptor. Should Leica produce an EVIL camera I think it would be certain that they'd only offer R lens compatibility via a suitable adaptor and that the camera itself would have a new "native" mount system. Of course the really big question would be what sensor size would they choose? A full-frame EVIL Leica camera (E-system ) would be truly evil in the nicest possible sense. Heck, they could even offer an adaptor for M lenses for the fully manual guys.

Thank you very much for your e-mail regarding the LEICA R System. I can understand your disappointment that there will be no “R10″. Please let me explain the reason for this:At photokina 2008 Leica Camera AG announced that a digital reflex camera “LEICA R10″ would compliment the R-System. At this time the technical and economical assessments for the project were in progress. The findings have shown that under the present technical capabilities of Leica and the current competitive situation the market potential for a digital reflex camera with R-Bayonet would be limited to current R customers. Chance for getting new customers using competitor´s products would be quite low. The installed customer base using R-equipment would not have been sufficient to pay back the investment into the development of such a digital system. For this reason Leica Camera AG was forced not to proceed with this project.

We are fully aware that you like to use your valuable R lenses on a digital Leica body in a adequate way. This need has been integrated into the development of new camera systems. We kindly ask for your understanding that we cannot make a more precise statement or detailed information concerning new developments or possible market introduction dates.

An all new camera, possibly an R mount solution but maybe not. Maybe multiple lens compatible. Smaller than an M9, larger than X1. Basically a new made in Germany camera. Could my crystal ball be wrong? Sure, it has been in the past but its hitting at an 84% correct rate these days

The D-Lux 5!

No M10, sorry but I did see something REALLY cool and expensive for M lovers. I did not see an M9.2.

The X1 is still the X1 but it looked different in the ball. Couldn’t make it out but looked like an X1, and was NOT an X2. More stealthy.

I think Leica will now have a “trio” of made in Germany cameras and the D-Lux 5/V-Lux 20 which will be made by Panasonic in Japan.

Steve is at pains to point our that these are just his predictions and not based on privileged information from Leica. It would be a surprise if the D-Lux 5 (based on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5) didn't materialise. Nobody is expecting an M10 yet with the M9 still flying off the shelves. Of course the big excitement would be the first one in the list - not long to wait now...

Leica News & Rumors are reporting this blog from an invitee to a Leica Design Preview scheduled for 20:00 CET (2pm EST) on Monday next. Leica announced the S2 at a similar event in 2008. The stamp accompanying the invitation looked like this:

...a New Special Edition M9 – Titanium w new 35 Lux ASPH and get this…a new way to show the frame lines

Wow, a new way to show the frame lines.

Seriously, though any special edition M9 sounds very desirable, why would Leica introduce a new way to show the frame lines for just that camera? Maybe it will also come with an M9.2 should that camera be fairly imminent? I guess we'll find out in just over 26 hours from now.

Bob.

P.S. Now we know why Steve Huff claims such a high accuracy rate for his predictions. Maybe he'll come out with yet another set a couple of hours before the press event.

I hope you've had a chance to have a look at the FinePix X100 thread. Can you imagine what Leica could do with that Hybrid Viewfinder technology? The most often cited benefit of the rangefinder camera, such as the M9, is that you have a viewfinder which just doesn't get between you, the photographer, and the scene. Of course such a viewfinder does have huge limitations when you then fit an ultra-wide or a long telephoto lens. But with a hybrid viewfinder you can keep the benefits of the direct view of the scene unless you want to fit that extreme lens at which point you can switch to the electronic viewfinder.

Can Leica find it in themselves to make what would effectively be an X100 but which takes interchangeable lenses with AF and provides backward compatibility with the current M-system lenses?

I'm always suspicious when people say "I'd sell all my xxxxx kit to buy one of those" but for such a camera system I really think I might...

There's no rumors of an M9.2 yet, although, according to a poster at Steve Huff's site, the sensor used for the M9 has been discontinued by Kodak, so once Leica is out of stock on those, it'll be time for a new body...